Week 1: Definitions

Question 1

Nociception

Answer 1

The neural process of encoding noxious stimuli

Question 2

Allodynia

Answer 2

Pain due to a stimulus that does not normally provoke pain

Question 3

Hyperalgesia

Answer 3

Increased pain from a stimulus that normally provokes pain eg patients with neuropathy

Question 4

Neuropathic pain

Answer 4

Pain caused by a lesion or disease of the somatosensory nervous system

Note: Its a clinical description

Question 5

Nociplastic pain

Answer 5

Pain that arises from altered nociception despite no clear evidence of actual or threatened tissue damage

Question 6

Sensitisation

Answer 6

Increased responsiveness of nociceptive neurons to their normal input and/or recruitment of a response to normally subthreshold inputs

Question 7

Central Sensitisation

Answer 7

Increased responsiveness of nociceptive neurons in the CNS to their normal or subthreshold afferent input

Question 8

Peripheral sensitisation

Answer 8

Increased responsiveness and reduced threshold of nociceptive neurons in the periphery to the stimulation of their receptive fields

Question 9

Multidisciplinary treatment

Answer 9

Multi-modal treatment provided by practitioners from different disciplines eg prescription of an anti-depressant by a physician alongside exercise treatment from a physio and cognitive behavioural treatment by a psychologist

Question 10

Acute pain

Answer 10

Short term and typically occurs in a specific area of the body (usually the bodys response to a physical injury to make a person aware of it)

Question 11

Chronic pain

Answer 11

Persistent - typically lasting longer than 3mths

Question 12

Smudging

Answer 12

Describes the increased synaptic efficacy of primary afferents and their connectivity resulting in broader and less defined receptive fields.

Increased synaptic efficacy occurs due to:
- Increased receptors
- Increased pre-synaptic release of glutamate
- Increased CA influx through NMDA receptor